I fell in love with paella when I visited Marbella, Spain. Ironically, I also had a native Louisianian introduce me to Cajun-style Dirty Rice while I was there, and over the years I’ve continued to enjoy both dishes. When I couldn’t decide which one I loved more, it was time to combine the best of both worlds, and that’s how Dirty Rice With Smoky Grilled Sausage came to be. 

This dish is a delicious mash-up of two of my favorite recipes featuring saffron rice cooked in clam juice and a mirepoix consisting of chopped red onions, garlic, and red bell peppers. Smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and saffron are a nod to traditional paella, while each shake of Cajun seasoning and the Zatarian’s 100 percent pork Andouille Smoked Sausage is a nod to the very best of Louisiana’s culinary offerings. Cooking the Cajun Style Smoked Sausage on a charcoal grill imparts an even deeper smoky flavor that elevates this dish.

I like to keep things light and fresh by adding the vibrant flavors of serrano peppers, tender green onions, and torn pieces of flat-leaf parsley. This beautiful entree is served with wedges of fresh lemon to brighten the whole affair. — Derrick Worthey

Dirty Rice With Smoky Grilled Sausage From Derrick Worthey

"Cataplana" is the word for both the dish and the spherical pot it's cooked and served in. This pork and seafood stew is found in the Algarve, in Portugal. You don't need a cataplana to make this; a Dutch oven or large pot with a tight-fitting lid does the trick (though it may not be quite the same). The shrimp stock recipe was adapted from 

 by George Mendes. The cataplana recipe was inspired by 

Portuguese Cataplana

During the summer months,  I always keep the fridge stocked with a few bottles of rosé. But I don’t just drink rosé—I cook with it, too. In addition to being the perfect warm-weather beverage, it’s also an ingredient that can perk up just about any recipe. 

I can’t take much credit for this brilliant idea. A few years ago my friend Emily hosted a dinner party in the Hamptons and served a pot of fresh littleneck clams steamed in rosé as an appetizer. The glorious combination of dry wine, briny clams, butter, and garlic is one I’ll never forget. In fact, I daydream about it often. 

When I make this dish now, I add whole pink peppercorns. Crackly enough to add great texture, but also tender enough that they don’t need to be ground. And, like rosé, they’ve got a pretty pink blush with subtle fruity flavor.  

Since this is a dish best served outside, I highly recommend doing all of the cooking and charring on the grill. But if you’d rather cook indoors, just place a cast-iron pot on the stove and use your broiler to char the bread. 

If you’ve never cooked fresh clams, a couple things to know: First, discard any clams that have broken or cracked shells. The clams should be tightly clamped shut. If they’re open, give them a tap on the counter. If they close back up, they’re good. If they stay open, discard them. 

To clean the clams, set them in a bowl of cold tap water. Let sit for 20 to 30 minutes and allow the clams to spit out any sand they may have collected. If you’re using farmed clams, they’ll likely already be cleaned, but I like to do this regardless. It’s better to have extra-clean clams than a pot of sandy ones.   

Littleneck clams are small, briny, and a bit sweet. Manila clams, which may be more widely available, work well, too. Larger varieties of clams also do the trick—just be sure to tack on a few extra minutes to make sure they’ve got enough time to steam.  


Garlicky Clams in Rosé 

One of the most enjoyable combinations is grilled bread and the broth from steamed clams. This recipe is special because it explicitly instructs you to place a piece of grilled bread at the bottom of your bowl, and then to ladle the clams and broth over the top of the bread. If you eat the clams first, you will be left with a piece of grilled bread turned soft after absorbing the broth. This is the best part.

Steamed Clams with Grilled Bread

In the summertime, I like a bowl of spaghetti with clams for dinner. And I like the clams to bathe in a sauce of olive oil, parsley, enough garlic and red pepper flakes to get your attention, and a dousing of lemon juice so the flavors feel crisp. I also added slivers of preserved lemon, which grant the sauce the powerful fragrance of lemons, but barely a drop of juice -- think of it as lemon squared.

Spaghetti with Clams, Parsley, Garlic, and Lemon (x2)

I developed this dish by experimenting with my favorite ingredients -- clams, sausage, wine and heavy cream. I love it because it is simple to make, because it takes very little time, because it impresses the crowd, and most of all, I love it for the broth! The broth takes me to another world and I can never have enough of it. But the key to getting the dish right lies entirely in CLEANING YOUR CLAMS PROPERLY! So before you go and take the plunge, here is a link to a pretty good explanation on how to do it http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-clean-the-sand-out-of-c-58389. 

Drunken Clams with Sausage

An American classic really,  I remember loving this chowder as a kid as long as it wasn't  wallpaper paste.   We used to collect up clams while on spring break in Florida and my mom would whip up a batch of something similar.  I also have lots of sunburned memories of Cape Cod thrown into the mix here too.

New England Clam Chowder with Old Bay Oyster Crackers

Crackling top and bottom, succulent goodness in the center: that’s our seafood paella. We do it Catalan-style, adding both sofrito and picada for a more robust flavor. The former brings the earthy sweetness of caramelized tomatoes, onions, and garlic; the latter delivers the fresh bite of parsley in a saffron-scented olive oil. Lobster stock deepens the from-the-sea juiciness of cuttlefish, squid, mussels, clams, and cod. A lot of our diners tell us it’s the best paella they’ve ever had anywhere in the world. Follow this simple formula and you’ll hear the same when you serve it at home.

Reprinted from  Boqueria: A Cookbook, from Barcelona to New York. Copyright © 2018 by by Marc Vidal and Yann de Rochefort. Published by Absolute Press. 


Seafood Paella (Paella de Mariscos) 

When foggy July days in San Francisco make me nostalgic for New England summers, this recipe does the trick. Best at the height of summer, when the cherry tomatoes are bursting with flavor. I first made this for a "grill mania" themed cooking club, so more steps than necessary are done on the grill. You could certainly prepare the whole thing with broiler and stovetop, or just do the last step on the stovetop, but if you want an excuse to spend more time outside, go for the grill! - Ms. T

Clams with Grilled Chorizo & Charred Tomatoes

Once the ingredients are prepped, the meal comes together very quickly. While the pasta cooks, the clams, garlic, parsley, white wine, and lemon juice simmer, doing their job effortlessly in a separate pan. Hopefully you'll feel like a hero as you toss the pasta with the clams (or at least I did that night, now many years ago). Most of the time, all of the clams open and the result is very satisfying, and a wonderful surprise if you’ve got an audience of small children. Adapted and tweaked over the years from an old 

Linguine With Clams, Parsley & Lemon

My first authentic Paella experience was in the Spanish Andalusian city of Seville. I loved how the Paella had a spicy taste from Cayenne pepper which paired perfectly with  the sweet & smoky flavors of Pimenton Spanish paprika & wood fire roasted Paquillo peppers. I used authentic Spanish ingredients which I brought back from Spain this past June like the Zafferania saffron from Granada, Nunez di Prado extra virgin olive oil from Cordoba & 'La Odalisca' Pimentón - Sweet Paprika from Murcia. I wanted to give my Paella an authentic taste which takes me back to Andalusia every time I make this recipe at home! - onetribegourmet

 Spicy Andalusian Seafood Paella

My extended family reunites in the same nook of Long Beach Island, New Jersey every summer—a tradition decades older than I am. We mostly drink wine on the beach but every so often we bike to Bay Village, a waterfront gaggle of restaurants and shops, for sustenance. Peanut butter fudge. Taylor-egg-and-cheese sandwiches. Clam chowder in bread bowls. Battle of the chowders—New England versus Manhattan (even versus Rhode Island, a lesser known, clearer broth)—implies ironclad loyalties. But in a place where most people are on vacation, anything goes. At our favorite chowder hut, Country Kettle Chowda, you can get New England or Manhattan or, if you can’t pick, “Rhode Island Red,” where they ladle half New England, half Manhattan, into your bowl. Blushing pink like a sunburn. Giddily breaking all the rules. Some restaurants in Long Island claim this as “Long Island Clam Chowder.” And I suppose it wouldn’t be chowder if we were all on the same page.

A few recipe notes: I used littleneck clams but use whatever your seafood monger says is freshest. Cherrystone are similar in size. Quahog are affectionately called “chowder clams”—very large and sometimes tough, so be mindful of overcooking. I used a 4-quart, high-sided sauté pan. Whichever vessel you pick, make sure it has a wide diameter so the bacon and vegetables can spread out and have a good time.


New Manhattan Clam Chowder

When I am hungry and want something salty and savory, I can tell you this:
Ingredients that normal kitchens usually stock (potatoes, onions, carrots, chicken broth, etc.) are absent from my kitchen as I don't cook on a regular basis and my kitchen was never really normal to begin with.

What I can tell you is:  My kitchen always has garlic and red pepper flakes (one of the advantages of being Korean), salt (I blame my husband for my addiction to it), salted butter (I don't want to get into it), olive oil (total staple that my Korean mother never used.  Go figure.), a jar of anchovies packed in olive oil (the credit for this goes to Jamie Oliver.  He assured me, via television, that the anchovy will become nutty after sauteing it for a bit and he was right!!), a can of clams (I've come to the conclusion that I sometimes shop as if we are on the verge of a zombie apocalypse.  I was never raised on this product so I find it peculiar that I load up on these whenever it's on sale.), a box of pasta like linguine or spaghetti (they are ALWAYS on sale.  How could I not buy them? I tend to like the Barilla Spaghetti Rigati because it makes me believe that the ridges will make the sauce adhere more.  Just my belief.)

I made this for a friend once and she LOVED it.  She tried to replicate it but confessed it was not as good as what I made for her.  Her fault was that she underestimated the scant number of ingredients involved and the ease of this recipe.  The key to this recipe is low key.  Don't try to get all fancy because the beauty of this dish is the simplicity of it.  

If you have these ingredients on hand, you're in for a cozy night in sexily swirling your pasta with your fork while watching "The Walking Dead".

Clam Pantry Pasta

The difference between bouillabaisse and any other fish soup lies in the combination of flavors beyond the seafood stock. A hint of saffron, an accent of zested orange, and a few sliced fennel bulbs and fronds bring out an essence from the seafood that would otherwise remain hidden. While they might seem simple, omit any one of these ingredients and the depth of flavor in your bouillabaisse will lose the complexity that earned it such a vibrant reputation.

My preference is a bouillabaisse with a small amount of tomato and generous amounts of fennel and saffron, so the recipe here reflects that. Feel free to experiment by adjusting the amounts of tomato, fennel, orange zest, and saffron to suit your own tastes. Ultimately, a balance of ingredients is the most important factor, as you're aiming for a soup with flavors like a symphony: all in tune but with each instrument only minutely recognizable.

Bouillabaisse

This recipe is about the affinity that clams and bacon have for each other. In order to highlight these flavors, I decided to combine baked clams with Amatriciana sauce (which is a classic Roman pasta sauce, featuring tomato and either pancetta or guanciale). Littleneck clams are steamed open, and the clam meat gets finely diced, tossed with amatriciana sauce, and put back into the shell to bake. I tried a version of this recipe where the clam meat is left whole, but I found it too hard to eat (it was chewy). 

Please note that this recipe will yield about 1 pint of amatriciana sauce, but only ¼ cup of that sauce is necessary to dress a portion of 12 clams. You can reserve the rest of the sauce and use it with pasta. Remember that if you want to double or triple this recipe and serve 24 or 36 clams, you do not need to double or triple the amount of amatriciana sauce. 

Baked Clams Amatriciana

Stuffed quahogs, or “stuffies,” are a toothsome mixture of diced clams, breadcrumbs, and spices baked on the half-shell. They’re a savory delicacy, cheap and filling—one of those Depression-era recipes that stretches basic ingredients to their limits.

You'll find the recipe below, adapted by me. But here are my great-grandmother's handwritten instructions, which are characteristically cryptic and full of weird lapses: "Wash and cook quahogs. Save hot broth to soak toast. Drain extra juice. Fry linguica and break into pieces. Add other ingredients to toast. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes." All of her recipes are like this—it's assumed that you already know what you're doing.

Stuffed Quahogs

This easy pasta dish depends on the carbonara method—egg yolks plus cream tossed into hot pasta—to create an enriched sauce flavored with fresh chives. If you are not using clams, be sure to reserve some of the pasta water to keep the sauce silky.

Chive Linguine With or Without Fresh Clams

A Sardinian classic, fregola is most popularly served in a seafood stew or like this, with clams. Making fregola by hand is actually very quick and easy. It's a rustic pasta, so no need to be too precise, but if you find that you can't quite get the balls of pasta small enough, you can try doing this on a wooden board (the texture helps and the wood absorbs more moisture). Also, you can add a spoonful or two of regular all-purpose flour to the semolina when it feels too moist and you risk getting large clumps. You can also use store-bought fregola in this delicious clam stew.

This sauce recipe is inspired by one from the Slow Food restaurant Il Caminetto in Cabras, Sardinia, although they tend to use a handful of sun-dried tomatoes in place of the tomato passata (or a whole fresh chopped tomato) here.

Sardinian Clam Stew With Fregola

New Zealand chef Gwithyen Thomas from Aroha in Los Angeles says that his favorite food-and-wine pairing is Cloudy Bay clams with sauvignon blanc. The clams, he says, “are from the cleanest area in the world—they have so much meat to them, with great ocean-fresh flavor”; the bivalves’ salinity is a complement to the brisk white. For the same reason, steamed mussels are frequent companions at table with sauvignon blanc. Though adding fish and saffron to the mix might seem to complicate the wine pairing a bit, sauvignon blanc is still a terrific choice—if you choose the right sort of sauvignon. Some New Zealand sauvignon blancs have pungent, lively lime and gooseberry flavors; other bottlings are a little fleshier in the mouth, with flavors that are more tropical/white stone fruit. In this case, you’ll want the latter kind. (We paired 

Seafood Bouillabaisse

This recipe is a great use of one of my favorite ingredients, smoked paprika—plus, my husband loves it. It's so simple and easy, and delicious when served with some crusty, warm bread and a salad.

Smoky Clams for Two

Ever since living in Europe, where everyone seems to casually sit down for a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvre before serving dinner, I’ve wanted to do the same with our family on the weekends. But it turns out we’re very American in our ways, rushing around doing laundry, finishing up homework, writing a few last emails, cracking open a beer while someone puts the food on plates, and then plopping down at the table in a collective exhale. We do light candles and toast, but the hour-long preamble has remained a fantasy.
However, I have managed to squeak in one dish that encourages everyone to pause. On Sunday nights, we often make fish tacos. Our fishmonger at the Greenmarket also sells excellent littleneck clams. I’ve taken to buying a dozen and roasting them until they open. As they do, we all gather around the counter, dabbing them with butter and topping the warm, briny clams with a droplet or two of Cholula. We eat them standing up, chatting, shells clanking against the pan—a civilized and sweet family gathering. And once the last clam goes—quickly!—we get back to our business.

Sunday Night Clam Snack

Very lightly adapted from Charles Phan's The Slanted Door Cookbook. Key changes: for the heat-phobic child, I have left out the Thai chiles that Phan calls for. (If you have a pro-chile children, halve four Thai chiles and add them when the clams go in.) And although Phan calls for clams alone, I think this is every bit as good with mussels, which kids may favor (clams being tougher to chew). Also, while rice wine and Thai basil are obviously more Slanted Door in spirit, I have also made this with white wine and Italian basil. Reader, we ate it. 

Clams (or Mussels) With Lime-Butter Sauce

This is quite an ingenious dish: You can prepare these little paper packages earlier in the day and simply bake them right before serving. If you can't find the exact shellfish typical of the Mediterranean, don't worry. Ask your trusted fishmonger for some advice on what is good and in season and substitute as you please. Linguine and short pasta shapes also work well in place of spaghetti.

I like to leave the shells on for visual effect, but feel free to remove them in advance if you like. You can either make individually wrapped pastas (my preference) or make one large one. Simply place a couple of large sheets of foil in a suitably sized baking or casserole dish and fold the foil over to close and seal in the steam. 

Spaghetti al Cartoccio - Seafood Spaghetti Baked in Paper 

When I make clams I want the dish to feel more like a whole meal so I add a cooked grain and some greens to the mix. This idea was not my own, but one I have borrowed from chefs Chad Conley (formerly of Hugo’s and Gather in Maine and Jean-Georges in New York) and Greg Mitchell (Gramercy Tavern and Reynard in New York) who man the stoves at the refurbished Palace Diner (http://www.palacedinerme.com/) in Biddeford, Maine. They routinely mix shellfish with things like fregola sarda and bitter greens. I think I have come pretty close to recreating the clam, farro, and kale dish I ate there a couple of weeks ago. They used mahogany clams, but I run with a mix of my favorite hard shells:  cherrystones and littlenecks.

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